It was the day before her wedding, and Sherry Blendy sat on top of a grassy hill watching the sun set over Margret Town for the last time. Her blue eyes softened as her guild and all the surrounding buildings were tinted the soft pinks and russet oranges of the broad horizon.
Sitting beside her was a person she would, and did on multiple occasions, follow to the ends of the earth. Her best friend, first love, the last eleven years of her life personified. She wouldn't have it any other way. "This view is so beautiful…it's love."
In response he gave a familiar half-amused half-confused look, and half a nod. "Whatever you say, Sherry." It had been over a decade, and he still had no idea what she meant by that half the time. "This place is going to miss you."
"I know." She let her back rest against the tall tree behind them. "What are any of you going to do without me?" she laughed. "I kept telling Ren he should just move here instead."
Lyon could only shake his head at her fondly. "I don't know how we'll manage."
Sherry actively decided to ignore the sarcasm in his voice. "I mean, Chelia tries to act tough about it, but what if she gets lonely? She's lost so much of our family already. I asked her if she wanted to come with me, but she said she wanted to stay at the guild." She sighed. "I mean, I don't want to leave her all alone. That's just not love."
"In what way will she be alone?" The ice-make mage placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "The guild is a family, right? All of us are looking out for her."
She then gave a smile comprised of pure light. When they first met, she never thought she'd hear him say something like that. Not in her wildest dreams. "Lyon-sama sounds like a member of Fairy Tail," she teased.
He looked away from her, slightly flustered. "I blame that idiot, Gray."
"He's your precious little brother, and you know it." She sighed as night started to drift over the town. "But Chelia aside, who's going to keep Toby calm when I'm gone?"
"I'd say Yuka did a pretty good job of it during the games last year." That had always been Yuka's job, truthfully.
"And Yuka!" she went on with renewed passion, "Who's gonna tell Yuka to trim his eyebrows? Not that he does it, anyway. But still-"
"If it means that much to you, I will pass the message along," Lyon said with a smirk.
"And what about you? Who's going to coax you out of your moods when I'm gone?" What if he just brooded himself to death one day?
He glanced at her incredulously from the corner of his eye. "I don't have moods, Sherry."
"Yes you do." And no one understood them better than she did. She had the ice mage down to a science. "You're in one right now because you know how much you're going to miss me."
Because she was leaving, and because tomorrow was her wedding day, he decided to entertain her with his honesty—at least to an extent. "It's only natural. We've been partners for such a long time."
Then she remembered the moment she met him. At all of fourteen years old, she decided that the reason she'd been put on this earth was to love him. In a way, she had been right. "Exactly. After I leave, who will make sure you accept love into your life?"
"No thanks. The last time I tried that, it didn't end well." Not only was Juvia turned off by his advances, but she rejected him for Gray of all people. His pride never quite recovered from that one.
Sherry laughed yet again, thinking back to his antics at the Grand Magic Games. "She had bad taste, anyway. And there's no love in that."
"How so?"
"Don't make me say it." She was getting married the next day after all.
"What are you talking about?"
Sherry sighed. As brilliant as he was, he could be so incredibly dense at times. She would miss that, too. "Objectively speaking, of course, Lyon-sama is much cuter than Gray is."
Lyon thanked every deity in existence that the fast approaching night camouflaged the faint blush on his cheeks. "Should we head back now?"
"Maybe in half an hour or so. Obaba should be done spinning things by then." The guild master left no member unturned, quite literally, as she lamented the departure of two of her top mages within the span of a few weeks.
He nodded. "It can't be helped since Jura was called to serve on the magic council so suddenly."
The dark pink haired woman sighed again. "This morning she asked me why I couldn't just stay and marry you instead."
Because I took too long, was the first thought that came to his mind, closely followed by the hope that Gray wouldn't come to lose Juvia in a similar way. Because Lyon knew firsthand what could happen when you took someone's love for granted.
Because before Ren entered the picture, a small subconscious part of him resigned to the idea of spending his life with her—that part of him had maybe even looked forward to it.
But that was too heavy a truth for her nuptial bliss, and he was more than willing to bear the weight of it for both of them.
"That crazy old woman," he replied.
"I know, right?" she agreed. "She was probably kidding, but still."
"At least she didn't strip this time."
And they stayed out, chatting idly and watching the stars until her last night gave way to morning—the first morning of the rest of her life.
Author's Notes: I am currently writing this from the bottom of the ocean where this beautiful sunken ship now resides lol. I tried so hard to make this a friendship-fic but then the feels took over and I failed miserably. Anyway, thanks for reading, everyone! Reviews are greatly appreciated.